Name: Texas Panhandle Tales
Brand: Mike Cox
SKU: 9781609496111
Price: 21.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Mike Cox

Texas Panhandle Tales

9781609496111

$21.99

The Texas Panhandle is like a whole 'nother country. The area stretching from just south of Lubbock all the way north to Oklahoma is filled with ranch land, oil fields, windy plains, and some of the Lone Star State's most unique history. Meet the duck that started a gun battle in Oldham County and find out how Kate Polly's pancake flipping saved her life. Or witness Gene Autry's days as a performer in Childress and a different sort of gold rush in Palo Duro Canyon as historian Mike Cox shares his favorite pieces of the Panhandle's past.

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G.R. (Ron) Williamson

Texas Pistoleers

9781609490003

$23.99

The Vaudeville Theater Ambush of 1884 went down in history as one of the most famous gunfights in San Antonio, but the killing that night of Ben Thompson and John King Fisher, two of the most notorious pistoleers of the day, became something of a mystery. The two men entered the theatre just before midnight on March 11, and less than an hour later, both lay dead, shot down in what for all accounts was a true massacre. The responsible gunmen never were prosecuted for their crimes, and Thompson and Fisher--a mere mention of either man's name was enough to put the fear of death in any opponent--have been widely ignored since. Now, historian G.R. Williamson brings to light the mystery and the myths surrounding these men and their infamous deaths in Texas Pistoleers.

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Carmen Goldthwaite

Texas Ranch Women

9781626195981

$21.99

Texas would not be Texas without the formidable women of its past. Beneath the sunbonnets, Stetsons or high-fashion couture, the women of the Lone Star State carved out ranches, breathed new life into spreads and expanded acreage when husbands, sons and fathers fell. Throughout the centuries, the women of Texas's ranches defended home and hearth with cannon and shot. They rescued hostages. They nurtured livestock through hard winters and long droughts and drove them up the cattle trails. They built communities and saw to it that faith and education prevailed for their children and for those of others. Join author Carmen Goldthwaite in an inspiring survey of fierce Lone Star ladies.

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William N. Fox

Texas Rangers in the Mexican-American War

9781467153867

$23.99

For the Texas Rangers, the Mexican-American War was an opportunity for vengeance.

When the United States declared war on Mexico in 1846, the Texas Rangers were eager to settle scores with their familiar foe and quickly became the eyes and ears of the US army. Commanded by established legends like Samuel H. Walker, Benjamin McCulloch, and John Jack Coffee Hays, Texas Rangers led the American charge at Monterrey and saved General Taylor's army at Buena Vista. However, their depredations on Mexican citizenry were often excessive, and their behavior, along with other volunteers, sparked Mexican resistance. However crucial they were to US victory, it is also indisputable that they earned a reputation for brutality even in a vicious war.. Author William Nelson Fox follows these larger than life figures into stories of heroism and villainy at the heart of the Mexican-American War.

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Dominick J. Cirincione

Texas Sesquicentennial Wagon Train

9780738584881

$24.99

In 1986, the Texas Sesquicentennial Wagon Train joined the 150th birthday celebration that commemorated the state's independence from Mexico. The wagon train followed a jagged 3,000-mile circle around the state to bring it within approximately 100 miles of every town or city in Texas. The six-month schedule began January 2, 1986, in Sulphur Springs and was followed so closely that each town or city knew the exact day the wagon train would arrive and could make plans for welcoming it with local events. Some folks traveled the entire route; others joined for a day or a week. A total of 10,000 riders from 27 states traveled at least a part of the way during the six months. While people and wagons came and went, a core group of participants and support staff completed the entire trip, arriving at the Fort Worth Stockyards on July 3, 1986, for a final celebration.

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Mark Lardas

Texas Shipwrecks

9781467116176

$24.99

The Texas coastline and offshore waters are flat, shallow, featureless, and filled with shoals. Texas waters are subjected to extreme weather, not just hurricanes and tropical storms but also northers and seasonal gales. This, combined with two centuries of naval warfare off Texas waters, produced many shipwrecks of all sorts, from Spanish treasure fleets to simple working boats. The ships of pirates, navies, cotton traders, immigrants, fishermen, and oil shippers line the Texas coast, cover the sea bottom off Texas, and blanket the bottom of Texas rivers. Each wreck has a story, romantic or repellent, prosaic or unusual, but all intriguing.

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Clay Coppedge

Texas Singularities

9781467140867

$21.99

Texas, that most singular of states, conceals an entire parade of peculiar events and exceptional people in the back pages of its history books. A Lone Star man once (and only once) tried to bulldog a steer from an airplane. One small Texas town was attacked by the Japanese, while another was “liberated” from America during the Cold War. Texan career choices include goat gland doctor, rubbing doctor, striking cowboy and singing cowboy, not to mention swatter, tangler and dunker. From gunslinger Sally Skull to would-be rainmaker R.G. Dyrenforth, Clay Coppedge collects the distinctive odds and ends of Texan lore.

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Clay Coppedge

Texas True Crime Miscellany

9781467149013

$21.99

Outrageous acts of villainy have slowly drifted out of the national limelight and into the dustbin of Texas history. Consider the uproar over the 1879 shooting of actor Maurice Barrymore in Marshall and the 1949 murder of oil field legend Tex Thornton in Amarillo. The 1909 Coryell County Courthouse massacre committed by a sixteen-year-old girl remains just as shocking today. For the long-suffering associates of repeat offenders like Fort Worth's Flapper Bandit or Temple's International Man of Mystery, notoriety couldn't fade quickly enough. From the lawless days of the frontier to the rise of organized crime, Clay Coppedge sifts through eighteen obscure case files to chart the evolution of crime and punishment in the state.

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Jeff Campbell

Texas Ukulele

9781467156844

$24.99

Aloha, Texas!

Texas may be famous as the birthplace of both Willie Nelson and western swing, but its thriving ukulele community also boasts a rich heritage. Say howdy to the cowboy who plays ukulele and washtub bass at the same time. Don’t leave Austin’s famous music scene without visiting one the country’s biggest ukulele clubs. Jeff Campbell picks his way across the Lone Star State, where the ukulele jams with reggae among the eastern pines and a former Singing Bellhop of Amarillo attempts to strum for fifty hours straight.

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Sherrie S. McLeRoy

Texas Women First

9781626197145

$21.99

American history is teeming with unconventional, trailblazing Lone Star women with big, unprecedented achievements—outstanding, outrageous, outré women who know all about being Texas Big and being first. Texas's own Bessie Coleman was the first black person in the world to earn a pilot's license. Students and typists the world over breathed a sigh of relief when San Antonio–born Bette Nesmith Graham released Mistake Out, now known as Liquid Paper®. Way ahead of the curve, University of Texas graduate Aida Nydia Barrera saw the need for bilingual educational programming and in 1970 started Carrascolendas, the first television show of its kind in the country. In 1981, El Paso's Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female justice of the United States Supreme Court. Join author Sherrie McLeRoy for an introduction to the exceptional women of Lone Star history.

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David Davis

Texas Zeke and the Longhorn

9781455624218

$14.99

This retelling of the English folktale “The Old Woman and Her Pig” features a Texas cowboy and an ornery Longhorn. A whole chain of events must be set into motion before Zeke can get home for a big bowl of chili.

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Jane Spraggins Wilson

Texon

9780738579900

$24.99

From 1924 to 1962, Texon was a model company oil town in Reagan County, Texas. Pittsburgh-based Big Lake Oil Company developed the town site next to the Big Lake Oil Field and Santa Rita No. 1, the discovery well on University of Texas lands in the Permian Basin. Pres. Levi Smith ensured that company employees and their families enjoyed comfortable housing and community amenities, including a grade school, hospital, nondenominational church, theater, swimming pool, and baseball park, as well as a café and dry goods, grocery, and drugstores. By the end of World War II, the Big Lake Field's declining production meant a smaller workforce and a declining Texon population. Plymouth Oil assumed ownership in 1956 and six years later sold out to Marathon Oil, which ended company support for the town. At annual reunions, however, former residents—who remember Oiler baseball, scouting, Sunday school, and Labor Day celebrations—have kept the Texon experience alive.

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E.R. Bills

The 1910 Slocum Massacre

9781626193529

$21.99

In late July 1910, a shocking number of African Americans in Texas were slaughtered by white mobs in the Slocum area of Anderson County and the Percilla-Augusta region of neighboring Houston County. The number of dead surpassed the casualties of the Rosewood Massacre in Florida and rivaled those of the Tulsa Riots in Oklahoma, but the incident--one of the largest mass murders of blacks in American history--is now largely forgotten. Investigate the facts behind this harrowing act of genocide in E.R. Bills's compelling inquiry into the Slocum Massacre.

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Carol Wilson

The 1913 McKinney Store Collapse

9781467139502

$21.99

A powerful vibration, a deafening noise and a swell of thick dust brought residents of McKinney pouring into the public square on the afternoon of January 23, 1913. What they saw was horrifying—an entire building had collapsed, demolishing two popular retailers, the Cheeves Mississippi Store and Tingle Implement Store. Their contents, including many shoppers and clerks, spilled out into the streets, where layer upon layer of debris settled into a massive, ragged pile. In spite of a herculean rescue effort, eight people perished. Carol Wilson sifts through the disaster and its aftermath, dredging up some troubling facts about how the tragedy might have been prevented.

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Alan Burton

The 1965 Texas Coed Murders

9781467171533

$24.99

A Baffling and Brutal Case

Sunday, July 18, 1965, started out like any other hot summer day in Texas. Shirley Ann Stark and Susan Rigsby, Chi Omega sorority sisters at the University of Texas at Austin, left their Dallas homes early and drove together in Shirley’s Corvair to Austin. Little did they know the fate that awaited them later that afternoon as they visited the apartment of a friend and fellow UT student. The following day, the women were reported missing. A twelve-day nationwide search ensued, ending with the discovery of their bodies in a north Austin field. As one Associated Press reporter would later write, “The story held all the elements of a classic murder case: Campus beauties, youth, mystery, terror, and social standing.’’ Author Alan Burton revisits the forgotten, gruesome, and tragic double homicide that shook the Lone Star State.

Alan Burton

The 1965 Texas Coed Murders

9781540299383

$34.99

A Baffling and Brutal Case

Sunday, July 18, 1965, started out like any other hot summer day in Texas. Shirley Ann Stark and Susan Rigsby, Chi Omega sorority sisters at the University of Texas at Austin, left their Dallas homes early and drove together in Shirley’s Corvair to Austin. Little did they know the fate that awaited them later that afternoon as they visited the apartment of a friend and fellow UT student. The following day, the women were reported missing. A twelve-day nationwide search ensued, ending with the discovery of their bodies in a north Austin field. As one Associated Press reporter would later write, “The story held all the elements of a classic murder case: Campus beauties, youth, mystery, terror, and social standing.’’ Author Alan Burton revisits the forgotten, gruesome, and tragic double homicide that shook the Lone Star State.

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William Chemerka

The Alamo from A to Z

9781455614615

$16.99

The patriotic sacrifice of Texas remembered. This tribute to the famous 13 day siege gives the stories of real-life heroes including David Crockett, Sam Houston, and William King (who, at 15 years old, was the youngest defender to die during the conflict.) These accounts, lacking in sensationalism, reveal the true characters in one of the most important events in Texas history. This reference includes a timeline of events.

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Juan Carmona

The Alton Bus Crash

9781467143615

$21.99

A September morning in 1989 changed Alton’s history forever. At 7:34 a.m., a Dr Pepper truck collided with Mission School Bus no. 6. After the bus and its occupants plunged into a water-filled caliche pit, twenty-one students lost their lives. The resulting investigation flooded the small South Texas community with reporters and lawyers. The heavily scrutinized legal battle divided the city, but it did ultimately produce changes in school bus safety that continue to save lives today. Juan Carmona navigates the complicated legacy of the tragic accident and its aftermath.

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Elizabeth H. Clare

The Austin Dam Disaster of 1900

9781467127455

$24.99

The Austin Dam Disaster of 1900 recreates the era of Gay Nineties Austin, then—as now—a city on the rise and on the make. In 1891, at the behest of ambitious city fathers, the little city of just 15,000 people gambled its future on a project of breathtaking size—a massive hydroelectric dam across the Colorado River. This book follows the epic construction project and the brief golden era of the pleasure resort at Lake McDonald. Though troubled and controversial from the get-go, the dam embodied all of Austin's dreams. Then, on Friday, April 6, 1900, it began to rain . . .

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Mark Lardas

The Battleship Texas

9781467123938

$24.99

The USS Texas was built when dreadnought battleships were kings of the seas. It was the world's most powerful battleship when first commissioned in 1914, and for over a century it fought many battles. Some took place while the Texas served as a warship in the US Navy in World Wars I and II. Since becoming a museum ship and war memorial in 1948, it has fought a longer and more difficult struggle as it combats the ravages of time for its very survival. Throughout its existence, the Texas has made history, leaving a wealth of fascinating stories in its wake.

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James Sipes

The Bayous of Houston

9780738596129

$24.99

When the Allen brothers were looking to establish a new city in 1836, they selected a site at the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou, which was the head of navigational waters. They named the city after Gen. Sam Houston, and ever since then, Houston and its bayous have been indelibly linked. With Buffalo Bayou as the lifeblood of the city, Houston thrived as an inland port. Early development occurred along the bayou, and it was widened, deepened, and straightened to accommodate growing commerce in Texas. Buffalo Bayou linked the city of Houston to Galveston Bay, where ships were waiting to share Texas products with the rest of the world. Today, with Houston as the largest city in the state of Texas and the fourth largest in the United States, the Port of Houston is one of the busiest ports in the world.

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Cristobal Lopez

The Blackwell School

9781467162722

$24.99

Readers interested in the beginnings and development of Mexican and Mexican American culture and education in Texas will delight in this pictorial history. The Blackwell School, established in 1909 in Marfa, Texas, served as a segregated school for Marfa’s Mexican and Mexican American students. Operating until 1965, eleven years after the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education, the Blackwell School shaped the lives of its students while reflecting the struggles of Hispanic segregation in the West Texas community. Despite the challenges, the Blackwell School fostered a sense of community through sports, extracurricular activities, and community-oriented pageants. Today, the Blackwell School stands as a national historic site under the management of the National Park Service, reflecting Marfa’s legacy of resilience and commitment to preserving its history.

Cristobal Lopez has a master of arts in history from the University of Texas at San Antonio. As a field representative for the National Parks Conservation Association, he helped establish the Blackwell School as a unit of the National Park Service. Dr. Kirsten Gardner is a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the University of Texas San Antonio Department of History. Dr. Gardner teaches courses on US history, women and gender studies, history of medicine, modern US history, and public history. The images for this book were selected from the Blackwell School Alliance Virtual Museum, Marfa Public Library, the Presidio County Museum, and the Library of Congress.

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Dr. Melanie Wallace

The Bolivar Peninsula

9781467133869

$24.99

The Bolivar Peninsula is a quirky coastal community consisting of Port Bolivar, Crystal Beach, Caplen, Gilchrist, and High Island. The peninsula, as locals call it, is a 27-mile-long barrier formation. Bounded on one side by the Gulf of Mexico and on the other by the Intracoastal Waterway, it is a short ferry ride from Galveston, Texas. The history of the peninsula includes filibusterers, pirates, fierce natives, and headstrong settlers. A spirit of independence survives to this day, providing a continuation of the story of this unique landmass and its people. An unlikely conglomeration of cowboys and farmers, third- and fourth-generation landowners, retired executives and professors, fishermen, shrimpers, and birding enthusiasts comes together with weekenders and tourists to enjoy the beauty and bounty of the Gulf Coast. Its beautiful setting and wild, storied past make the Bolivar Peninsula a fascinating place to explore.

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Susan Kralovansky

The Book That Jake Borrowed

9781455623259

$19.99

Jake and his book from the library are placed in one sticky situation after another in this cumulative tale, an original adaptation of the classic There Was an Old Lady. There’s the drip, drip, drip, of a jelly mishap that leads to the lick, lick, lick of a lucky rat, whose luck runs out when he’s caught by the cat, all before a dog shows up and that’s that for the book Jake borrowed from the library! Repetitive phrases, onomatopoeia, and simple choruses make this an easy beginning for young readers while the cut paper and fabric collage illustrations add humorous depth to the sequence of unfortunate events and offer opportunities for hands-on related activities.

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Terry Mitchell

The City We Built

9781467197229

$14.99

In the tradition of Little Legends and Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls comes The City We Built: Black Leaders of Austin, an illustrated children’s book honoring the extraordinary African American men and women who played a critical role in shaping Black Austin’s social, political, and cultural heritage. A collaboration between The Black Leaders Collective; The George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center; and renowned Texas visual artist Sadé Lawson, The City We Built will take readers on an empowering and inspiring journey through Black Austin’s history, highlighting such local luminaries as:Ada Anderson, Charles Atkins, Berl Handcox, Johnny Holmes, Azie Taylor Morton, Velma Roberts, Dorothy Turner, Willie Wells, and more.

Featuring full-page biographies and vibrantly illustrated, full-color portraits, The City We Built will not only educate young readers and inspire a new generation of Austin Black leaders—but celebrate the heroes who helped build this remarkable city.

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Jackie Kyger

The Coast Guard on the Texas Border

9781467150125

$21.99

The Revenue Cutter Service, which later merged with the U.S. Life-Saving Service to form the Coast Guard, patrolled South Texas as early as 1846. In 1852, the first lighthouse was built in Point Isabel, followed by the first lifesaving station in 1881. Salute the heroes who responded to the devastating hurricane of 1919 and stand watch with Chief Pablo Valent, the first Hispanic American to command a rescue station. From Commander Charles R. Wilson's oral history of World War II boot camp to the legacy of station keeper Wallace L. Reed, the longest-serving officer in charge, Dr. Jackie Kyger preserves the heritage of the men and women whose unofficial motto was "Law and Order, on the Border."

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Dottie Enderle

The Cotton Candy Catastrophe at the Texas State Fair

9781589801899

$19.99

“A delightful tale” of sugary, sticky mayhem at America’s biggest state fair! (Abilene Reporter-News)

At last! It’s time for the annual Texas State Fair, and Jake knows exactly what he wants to do first. He passes up all the other booths to buy his favorite treat—a cone of sweet, fluffy, puffy cotton candy.

Little does Jake know that his choice of sugary snack—and an unfortunate mechanical failure—will wreak havoc on the nation’s biggest state fair. As Jake wanders through the exhibits and attractions, he trails a sticky tail of cotton candy in his wake. Soon the candy has swaddled the livestock, tripped up the fair queen, and even festooned Big Tex with a pink tutu! It truly is a cotton candy catastrophe—until Jake has a brilliant idea to save the day.

Young readers will crack up at Jake’s comic misadventure, set among landmarks like the Cotton Bowl and the Texas Star, America’s tallest Ferris wheel.

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Lora-Marie Bernard

The Counterfeit Prince of Old Texas

9781467117876

$21.99

After Monroe Edwards died in Sing Sing prison in 1847, penny dreadfuls memorialized him as the most celebrated American forger until the turn of the century. With a bizarre biography too complicated for easy history, his critical contributions to Texas settlement, revolution and annexation were inextricably mired in his activities as a slave smuggler and confidence man. Author Lora-Marie Bernard unravels the unbelievable story of one of the most notorious criminal adventurers ever to set foot on the soil of the Lone Star State.

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Mark Lardas

The Cruiser Houston

9781467127424

$24.99

The cruiser Houston was the first warship named for the Bayou City, and the ship proved a favorite of the city for which it was named. It was also a favorite of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who traveled on the Houston no fewer than four times. Houston was twice the flagship of the US Navy's Asiatic Fleet. In the opening days of World War II, it battled the Imperial Japanese Navy, culminating in its midnight loss at the Battle of Sunda Strait. The Cruiser Houston tells the story of this magnificent ship and the city of Houston's reaction to its namesake's loss.

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Alan Govenar

The Dallas Music Scene

9781467131513

$24.99

For much of the 20th century, Dallas was home to a wide range of vital popular music. By the 1920s, the streets, dance halls, and vaudeville houses of Deep Ellum rang with blues and jazz. Blind Lemon Jefferson was discovered singing the blues on the streets of Deep Ellum but never recorded in Dallas. Beginning in the 1930s, however, artists from Western swing pioneer Bob Wills to blues legend Robert Johnson recorded in a three-story zigzag moderne building at 508 Park Avenue. And from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, a wrestling arena called the Sportatorium was home to a Saturday night country and rock-and-roll extravaganza called the Big D Jamboree.

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Juan Carmona

The Deadly 1940 Alamo Train Crash

9781467155106

$24.99

On March 14, 1940, a train heading west along Highway 83 from Donna to Alamo struck a truck driver turning north from the highway onto Tower Road. The horrific crash killed twenty-nine of about forty-five farmworkers who were on the truck. A one-day investigation faulted the truck driver and led to meager court settlements for the devastated families. In the wake of these events, several of the victims’ children and grandchildren became lawyers and some of the first Mexican American judges in South Texas. Juan Carmona and Taylor Seaver De La Fuente revisit the deadliest traffic accident in Texas history, while seeking to preserve the stories of Mexican and Mexican American farmworkers and their relatives whose backbreaking contributions continue to feed our country to this day.

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Thomas Dorn

The Downfall of Galveston's May Walker Burleson

9781467139663

$24.99

“The story of May Walker Burleson’s murder of her ex-husband’s second wife . . . A meticulously researched work, [it] captures its era perfectly.”—Galveston County Daily News

Jennie May Walker Burleson was envied for having everything a woman of her time could want—the privileged upbringing, the dazzling good looks, the dashing war hero husband. She was admired for demonstrating that a woman could want more, from the front of the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession to the bottom of a Mesoamerican archaeological dig. But as she stood over the body of her husband’s second wife, gun in hand, society’s envy and admiration quickly hardened into pity and scorn.

T. Felder Dorn examines the complicated trajectory of May's life as socialite, suffragist and shooter.

“Dorn’s book gives small glimpses of history, especially on the 1913 Suffragist parade in Washington, DC. Plus, May was sent to Waverly Hills Sanatorium reputed to be one of the most haunted places in the U.S. One of the best features of the book is the historical photos interspersed with each chapter.”—Forgotten Winds

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Kris Rutherford

The Galveston Buccaneers

9781626198371

$21.99

Galveston survived the Great Depression with a healthy dose of baseball, boll weevils and bootleg business. Farmers like future Galveston Buccaneers star Buck Fausett fled the insect infestation of North Texas for the city's sunny shores along with throngs of visitors eager to visit Sam Maceo's clubs and catch a ballgame. Galvestonians had a long love affair with America's favorite pastime, fielding the first game played in the state. Cotton heir Shearn Moody purchased the Buccaneers in 1931 and turned the languishing squad into a dominating force that won the 1934 Texas League Championship. Author Kris Rutherford weaves a captivating history of the Moody family, a team of talented players and the island that claimed them.

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Clay Rogers

The Galveston Dispatches

9781467158718

$24.99

Personal stories of life in Galveston in the mid-nineteenth century.

In 1855, Friedrich Gloor was just nineteen when he was sent from Basel, Switzerland, halfway around the world to teach at the First German Lutheran Church school in Galveston, Texas. He spent the next eleven years writing letters to his family about a place that was very different from his Swiss home. The climate was harsh, with stifling heat and bitter cold, droughts and floods. He provides a firsthand account of the treatment of slaves, frontier justice by hangings and burning criminals in the streets, shipwrecks, the yellow fever epidemic and the Civil War. However, Friedrich was haunted by something from his life in Switzerland for which he constantly asks for forgiveness. Friedrich’s secret remains shrouded in mystery, but his letters are a vivid glimpse into the pivotal moments of Galveston’s early history.

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Andrew W. Hall

The Galveston-Houston Packet

9781609495916

$21.99

Many imagine the settlement of the American West as signaled by the dust of the wagon train or the whistle of a locomotive. During the middle decades of the nineteenth century, though, the growth of Texas and points west centered on the seventy-mile water route between Galveston and Houston. This single vital link stood between the agricultural riches of the interior and the mercantile enterprises of the coast, with a round of operations that was as sophisticated and efficient as that of any large transport network today. At the same time, the packets on the overnight Houston-Galveston run earned a reputation as colorful as their Mississippi counterparts, complete with impromptu steamboat races, makeshift naval gunboats during the Civil War, professional gamblers and horrific accidents.

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Arcadia Children's Books

The Ghostliest Tales of Texas

9781467197946

$14.99 $11.99 Save 20%

Ghostly adventures await! Dive into your favorite, SPINE-TINGLIEST tales from Texas!

Welcome to Spooky Texas! In this thrilling anthology, spooky stories and ghostly tales bring the Lone Star State to life! Discover haunted cathedrals, phantom pirates, and eerie cities filled with secrets! From the "spirited" streets of Austin to the spooky shores of Galveston, each tale will take you on a chilling adventure pulled right from history, changing the way you see Texas forever.

Whether you’re a brave ghost hunter or just curious about the supernatural, the GHOSTLIEST TALES anthologies from ACB’s bestselling Spooky America series will give you goosebumps. . . and have you sleeping with the lights on!

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Carie Juettner

The Ghostly Tales of Austin

9781467198202

$12.99 $10.39 Save 20%

Ghost stories from Texas’s capitol have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery!

The haunted history of Austin comes to life—even when the main players are dead. Chat with the ghosts who roam the hallways of the capitol building downtown. Or visit Mount Bonnell and learn about Antonia, who threw herself from the cliffs after her fiancé perished trying to rescue her. Learn the history of the great flood of 1900 and then witness the ghostly orbs at Lake McDonald. Are they the spirits of the dead? Dive into this spooky chapter book for suspenseful tales of bumps in the night, paranormal investigations, and the unexplained; just be sure to keep the light on.

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Carie Juettner

The Ghostly Tales of Dallas

9781467197274

$12.99 $10.39 Save 20%

Ghost stories from Dallas, Texas have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery!

Welcome to the spooky streets of Dallas!

Stay alert! Ghosts lurk around every corner. Even the most unexpected places might be haunted by wandering phantoms.

Did you know that the Sammons Center for the Arts is said to have a haunted elevator? Or that sounds of music and laughter sometimes drift up and down the halls of the Adolphus Hotel... even when no one is there? Can you believe the friendly ghost at Catfish Plantation has been known to make coffee for its hosts?

Pulled right from history, these ghostly tales will change the way you see Dallas and have you sleeping with the light on!

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Kathleen Shanahan Maca

The Ghostly Tales of Galveston

9781467198103

$12.99 $10.39 Save 20%

Welcome to the spooky streets of Galveston! Stay alert! Ghosts lurk around every corner. Even the most unexpected places might be haunted by wandering phantoms. Did you know that the worst natural disaster in American history happened here, leaving behind thousands of ghosts? Or that the spirit of the famous pirate Jean Lafitte still roams the Galveston coast? Can you believe that a tourist attraction that claims to be haunted (just for fun), is really haunted? Pulled right from history, these ghostly tales will change the way you see Galveston, and have you sleeping with the light on!

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Brandy Herr

The Ghostly Tales of Granbury

9781467198332

$12.99 $10.39 Save 20%

Ghost stories from this Texas town have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery!

Granbury, Texas’s, haunted history comes to life—even when the main players are dead. Meet inmates past that haunt the historic Hood County Jail. See the mysterious woman in red who inhabits the home of one of Granbury’s most famous residents. Venture into the Granbury Opera House to encounter the spirit of John Wilkes Booth. Dive into this spooky chapter book for suspenseful tales of bumps in the night, paranormal investigations, and the unexplained; just be sure to keep the light on.

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Teresa Nordheim

The Ghostly Tales of North Central Texas

9781467197892

$12.99 $10.39 Save 20%

Encounter the spirits of North Central Texas—wealthy families lingering in their mansions, notorious outlaws still trapped in their jail cells.

Welcome to spooky North Central Texas!

Stay alert! Ghosts lurk around every corner. Even the most unexpected places might be haunted by wandering phantoms.

Did you know that on stormy nights, ghosts bound in chains roam the halls at The Old Collin County Prison? Or that in Arlington, a haunted bridge echoes with screams of the dead? Can you believe the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas is home to a haunted elevator?

Pulled right from history, these ghostly tales will change the way you see North Central Texas forever, and have you sleeping with the lights on!

Adapted from Haunted North Central Texas by Teresa Nordheim

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Lisha Cauthen

The Ghostly Tales of Old Town Spring

9781467197632

$12.99

Ghost stories from Old Town Spring have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery!

Welcome to the spooky streets of Old Town Spring, Texas!

Stay alert! Ghosts lurk around every corner. Even the most unexpected places might be haunted by wandering phantoms.

Did you know the spirit of a girl who died in a barn still plays with her friends in Doering Court? Or that a headless railroad worker is known to chase phantom trains? Can you believe that on some nights, a ghostly bride and her husband can be seen dancing in the moonlight?

Pulled right from history, these ghostly tales will change the way you see Old Town Spring forever, and have you sleeping with the light on!

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Jay Whistler

The Ghostly Tales of San Antonio

9781467198127

$12.99 $10.39 Save 20%

Ghost stories from this Texas town have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery!

San Antonio’s, historic haunted history comes to life—even when the main players are dead. Meet the spirit of a long-dead monk who still paces the floors of the San Fernando Cathedral. Visit the site of the 1842 Battle of Salado Creek and see spectral soldiers roaming the battlefield. Stay a night in the hotel that was built on top of the Old Bexar County Jail and perhaps you’ll meet one of the old inmates roaming the halls. Dive into this spooky chapter book for suspenseful tales of bumps in the night, paranormal investigations, and the unexplained; just be sure to keep the light on.

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Tanya McCoy

The Ghostly Tales of Texas's Haunted Route 66

9781467190015

$12.99 $10.39 Save 20%

Ghost stories from Texas's Haunted Route 66 have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery!

Welcome to Texas’s spooky Route 66!

Stay alert! Ghosts lurk around every corner. Even the most unexpected places might be haunted by wandering phantoms.

Did you know the Amarillo Natatorium is home to phantom musicians, spectral dancers, and a mysterious woman in white? Or that the abandoned motor motel in McLean may be the perfect "rest" stop for spirits traveling historic Route 66? Can you believe that in Old Tascosa, ghostly gamblers, gunslingers, and cowboys are still living it up from beyond the grave?

Pulled right from history, these spooky tales will change the way you see Texas’s Haunted Route 66 forever, and have you sleeping with the lights on!

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Karen Emily Miller

The Ghostly Tales of the Rio Grande Valley

9781467197373

$12.99

Ghost stories from Deep South Texas have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery!/

em>Welcome to the spooky Texas Tropics!/em>

Stay Alert! Ghosts lurk around every corner. Even the most unexpected places might be haunted by wandering phantoms.

Pulled right from history, these ghostly tales will change the way you see the Rio Grande Valley forever, and have you sleeping with the lights on!

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Martin Brown

The Glen Rose Moonshine Raid

9781625859457

$21.99

With hills studded with whiskey stills and cisterns brimming over with beer, Glen Rose operated in concerted defiance of one of Prohibition's chief champions, Governor Pat Neff. In 1923, Neff dispatched Texas Rangers and undercover agents to do the job of the unwilling local law enforcement. More than fifty men were arrested, including the sheriff and the county prosecutor. Outraged, the town's most prominent citizens stalked the Rangers and their agents, assassinating the primary operative in an ambush and further escalating the affair. Author Martin Brown follows the frenzy of the raid and its aftermath.

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Dr. Neil Crain

The History of Texas Wine

9781609490126

$23.99

Texas's 350-year wine story is still reaching its savory peak. Spanish colonists may have come to the state to spread Christianity, but under visionary Father Fray Garcia, they stayed and raised grapes. Later immigrants brought their own burgundy tastes of home, creating a unique wine country. When a North American pest threatened European vines, it was Texan scientist T.V. Munson who helped save the industry overseas. When Prohibition loomed stateside, Frank Qualia's Val Verde Winery in Del Rio survived by selling communion wine and is now the longest-operating bonded winery in the state. Today, tourists flock to Texas vineyards, and the state sells more wine every year. Join local experts Kathy and Neil Crain and sample the untold story of Texas's wine industry.

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Carlton Houston

The Houston Negro Hospital

9781467171625

$24.99

“This Great Hospital Fight” – Dr. Drake

At the height of racial and political tensions in early twentieth-century Houston, two unlikely figures became allies. Dr. William M. Drake, a pioneering surgeon and Black community leader, and Joseph Cullinan, a white oil magnate and founder of the company that became Texaco, united in a desperate effort to save a hospital that symbolized hope. The Houston Negro Hospital was born from America’s Black hospital movement. Dedicated on Juneteenth 1926, it embodied a bold experiment to bring dignity and health care access to a community that was systematically denied both in the Jim Crow South.

Journalist and storyteller Carlton Houston—whose ancestors played a role in this remarkable heritage—reveals the untold, human drama behind the institution that would become Riverside General. Discover the vision, conflict, and resilience that shaped a century of health care through the struggle of those determined to save lives.

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James Glassman

The Houstorian Calendar

9781467139878

$21.99

September 4, 2000, was Houston’s hottest day on record, as well as Beyoncé’s nineteenth birthday. Sam Houston was elected president on September 5, 1836. The city was awarded a National League baseball franchise on October 17, 1960, and on November 1, 2017, the Astros won their first World Series. On December 13, 1882, the Capitol Hotel became Houston’s first public building to get electricity. Tragedy struck on April 16, 1947, when a ship carrying ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded alongside a Texas City dock. James Glassman captures every single day of the year in the prism of Houston history, from the Texas Revolution to the moon landing.

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James Glassman

The Houstorian Dictionary

9781467118002

$21.99

Houston is an innovative city informed by a diverse and eclectic past that is ever-present in its customs, expressions and dreams, even though most Houstonians don't realize it. Represented by landmarks, dishes and events, the culture of America's fourth-largest city is celebrated in the literature, movies, songs and memorable quotations credited to its vibrant citizenry. The Houstorian Dictionary is a guide for natives and newcomers alike. Each entry leads into the next to create a tapestry of the Bayou City's past and present. Discover that story and visit the places where it all happened. Meet the innovators, heroes, hucksters and misfit tinkerers who share the unique Houston DNA. The Houstorian, James Glassman, reveals valuable insights that make this a handy reference as well as an entertaining read.

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Cecilia García Akers

The Inspiring Life of Texan Héctor P. García

9781467119016

$21.99

As a Mexican immigrant, Dr. Héctor P. García endured discrimination at every stage of his life. He attended segregated schools and was the only Mexican to graduate from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, in 1940. García's passion for helping others pushed him to advocate for equal rights. After serving in World War II, the doctor worked to help minorities achieve greater access to healthcare, voting rights and education. He started a private practice in Corpus Christi and in 1948 founded the American GI Forum. Cecilia García Akers shares a daughter's perspective on her father's remarkable achievements and sacrifices as an activist and physician.

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Kimber Fountain

The Maceos and The Free State of Galveston

9781467143530

$23.99

Throughout the long and colorful history of Galveston, no name has embodied the "Spirit of the Island" quite like the name Maceo. Two penniless Sicilian immigrants rose from modest beginnings to lead an entire city to prosperity, yet the nature of their industry and its abrupt and embarrassing end resulted in a legacy cloaked in stereotypes and rumor. For nearly forty years, Sam and Rose Maceo ruled a far-reaching underground economy of illegal booze and gambling but used their influence to infuse the "Free State of Galveston" with glamour, fame and fortune--a vision later used as a template for Las Vegas. The island city responded in kind, and its acceptance of the Maceos insulated their empire for decades. Pairing personal interviews of living descendants with her own meticulous research, Kimber Fountain lifts the veil on the Maceo family's closely guarded heritage.

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The North Shore Heritage and Cultural Society

The North Shore of Lake Travis

9780738578675

$24.99

Change is just about the only constant in the area that is now the north shore of Lake Travis. The limestone, gravel, clay, and loam that make up the land have evolved under the influence of wind and the mighty floodwaters of the untamed Colorado River. Comanche Indians and other tribes lived here long before settlers arrived from back east. Land grants helped many pioneers settle in the area, and their descendents benefited from electricity brought here through the Rural Electric Administration. Gradually the rural farming and ranching community developed into incorporated cities with a state-of-the art education system. The Mansfield Dam transformed a small section of the Colorado River into Lake Travis and enabled fishing and water sports. In spite of this growth, however, the north shore of Lake Travis still retains its small-town feel. Change continues, and the flora and fauna, rocks and hills, and ranches and communities that make up this beautiful part of the hill country still draw people of all ages.

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Joseph N. Luther

The Odyssey of Texas Ranger James Callahan

9781625858771

$24.99

James Callahan entered Texas armed, a quixotic young man enlisted in the Georgia Battalion for the cause of independence. He barely survived the 1836 Battle of Refugio and the Goliad Massacre. Undaunted by the perils of his adopted home, he remained in the line of fire for the next twenty-one years, fighting to protect Texas settlers from Apaches, Comanches, Seminoles, Kickapoos, outlaws, mavericks and the Mexican army. As a Texas Ranger, he rode with the legendary men of Seguin and San Antonio. In 1855, he commanded the punitive expedition into Mexico that bears his name, a fiasco that has been shrouded by mystery and shadowed by controversy ever since. In this first-ever biography, Joseph Luther traces the tragic course of the wayfarer who crossed so much of the Texas frontier and created so much of its story.

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James Collett

The Old Spanish Trail Highway in Texas

9781467106924

$23.99

At the dawn of automobile travel in the United States, visionary entrepreneurs proposed a Southern transcontinental route called the Old Spanish Trail (OST) that would stretch across eight states from Florida to California. The central third of the road spanned more than 900 miles and traversed Texas. The collaboration of communities, both large and small, that worked to bridge rivers and pave primitive roads made the OST a reality during the 1920s. As travelers ventured forth on the route, a diverse crop of businesses—filling stations, autocamps, tourist courts, motels, and myriad eating establishments—sprang up to meet the needs of tourists, wanderers, migrants, and truckers while also fueling economic growth. For over 50 years, the OST continuously underwent construction and redesign that transformed a small roadway into a multilane interstate highway carrying a constantly increasing flow of goods, services, and people. Although the OST identity is gradually growing fainter amidst the standardization of businesses and rerouting of numbered highways around (instead of along) city streets, it still survives among many Texans who dwell along the Trail.

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Mark Lardas

The Port of Houston

9781467130769

$24.99

To reach the Port of Houston's Turning Basin, a ship must travel 50 miles along a narrow and twisting channel that passes through Galveston Bay, the San Jacinto River, and Buffalo Bayou. Despite this improbable location, Houston has the world's largest landlocked port. Measured by annual tonnage shipped, the Port of Houston is the second-largest port in the United States. Its docks, wharves, and facilities cover more than 25 miles. The port starts its second century as a seaport in 2014. Its transformation from a crowded river port into an industrial giant is fascinating. It is a tale of technology, geography, politics, hard work, and Texas brag—mixed with a little luck.

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John M. Manguso

The Quadrangle

9781467128667

$24.99

Designed by Q.M. Gen. Montgomery Meigs and built in 1876 as a quartermaster supply depot, the Quadrangle evolved into a major regional headquarters. The Quadrangle has become synonymous with Fort Sam Houston. It has been immortalized in the art of Porfirio Salinas and the jewelry of James Avery. In Texas, the Quadrangle at Fort Sam Houston stands second only to the Alamo in historical significance. Designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1974 for its military contribution to the defense of the United States through the Indian Wars, the war with Spain, and both world wars as well as Korea, Vietnam, and the global war on terrorism, the Quadrangle continues its role as an active participant in national defense as the headquarters responsible for the land defense of North America. For almost 150 years, military activities have been conducted in the Quadrangle, and many of America's greatest soldiers and airmen have served within its walls—Ranald Mackenzie, Tasker Bliss, Frederick Funston, John J. Pershing, Billy Mitchell, Walter Krueger, and Jonathan M. Wainwright.

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Juan Carmona

The Queen Isabella Causeway Collapse

9781467156813

$24.99

In the days after 9/11, the country was on high alert. So when an alarming incident occurred just off the Texas coast on the early morning hours of September 15th, authorities immediately assumed another terrorist attack had taken place. A towing vessel collided into a support pillar of the Queen Isabella Causeway, causing an 80-foot section of the bridge to tumble into the ocean. Unfortunately, the gaping hole left in the bridge was not visible to cars traveling to and from South Padre Island to the mainland city of Port Isabel, Texas. Robert Espericueta, along with his cousins, happened to be in the only other boat on the waters that night. Espericueta collaborates with author Juan Carmona to track the extraordinary events of a bewildering catastrophe and a heroic rescue.

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E.R. Bills

The San Marcos 10

9781467141277

$24.99

On November 13, 1969, ten students at Texas State University were suspended for participating in a peaceful protest against the Vietnam War. They had kept vigil in front of the Huntington Mustangs, bearing signs that read, “Vietnam Is an Edsel” and “44,000 U.S. Dead, For What?” while an increasingly hostile anti-protest crowd chanted, “Love it or leave it!” and “Let’s string ’em up!” It was a day after news of the My Lai massacre broke. Part of a coordinated, nationwide Vietnam Moratorium effort that confounded and infuriated the Nixon White House, the “San Marcos 10” challenged their suspension, taking their case all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Author E.R. Bills offers this fascinating glimpse into the 1960s antiwar movement in Texas, the extraordinary measures to quell it and the broader social activism in which it participated.

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Cecilia Gutierrez Venable

The Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate

9781467129244

$24.99

For 125 years, the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate served the poor and, in particular, people of color. They are the first order of sisters founded in Texas. Their foundress, Margaret Mary Healy Murphy, built the first Catholic African American school and church in San Antonio, the second in the state of Texas. The sisters carried their mission and work beyond the Lone Star State's borders and included most of the South and a few metropolitan areas of the North. They crossed the Rio Grande and had several missions in Mexico and traversed a new continent when they opened a learning center in Zambia. The sisters were primarily known as educators and, in later years, worked in religious education and pastoral ministry. They have also operated orphanages and nursing homes and served in hospitals, homeless shelters, incarceration facilities, and immigration residences. The school they built over 100 years ago, now known as the Healy Murphy Center, serves the community as an alternative high school, and the sisters still teach there.

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Dawn Youngblood

The SMS Ranch

9781467126830

$24.99

Few images captivate the Western imagination more than the Texas cowboy at home on the range, herding, corralling, throwing and branding cattle, bronc busting, dining from chuck wagons, and sleeping under the stars. The SMS Ranch in the early 1900s was exactly such a place. Spanning hundreds of thousands of acres and holding land in 12 Northwest Texas counties, the SMS was formed by early Swedish immigrant to the Republic of Texas Swante Magnus Swenson. Swenson, a good friend of Sam Houston, had a penchant for wise financial decisions and, by the late 1800s, lived in New York with offices on Wall Street. Swenson sent his two sons to manage his vast Texas landholdings. In 1902, they hired legendary cattleman Frank Hastings to manage the SMS Ranch, headquartered in Stamford, Texas, north of Abilene and west of Fort Worth. Hastings's wife, Laura, and daughter Ruth photographed life on the ranch, and many professional photographers visited the SMS as well, leaving a rich visual legacy.

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The Dayton Historical Society

The Streets of Dayton, Texas

9781626194731

$21.99

The history of Dayton, Texas, is memorialized at every street corner and intersection. Street signs throughout town bear the names of characters in Dayton's past, the people who helped the city become what it is today. They are war heroes, a governor, business leaders, developers and everyday men and women dedicated to making Dayton a better community. Descend the Old Spanish Trail that cuts through the center of town, and meet those who settled what once was a western wildness. Author Caroline Wadzeck examines and explains the history of many of the town's streets, preserving their contributions and legacy in Dayton history.

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Lora-Marie Bernard

The Texas Archive War

9781467156059

$24.99

Often relegated to a footnote, the Archive War almost plunged the Republic of Texas into civil war. Houston’s Archive War began with the Texas Revolution, as the spoils of the battlefield gave way to bitter political strife. Sam Houston didn’t expect a two-year standoff with Austin residents over the location of the new republic’s capital. But if a few things had gone differently, his attempt to shift the seat of government back to the city named after him could have ended with Austin residents in outright rebellion. As it was, the feud between Lamar and Houston over the seat of government escalated into cannon-fire and continued until Texas was a Republic no more. Author Lora-Marie Bernard thumbs through the incendiary files of the Texas Archive War.

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José Angel Gutiérrez

The Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education

9781467130820

$24.99

For the past 40 years, the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE) has been on the forefront of advocacy to improve opportunity in higher education for US persons of Mexican origin. Chicano faculty at the University of Texas, together with a few Chicano students, organized the group's first gatherings in 1974, and since then, TACHE has held thematic annual conferences that signal its mission and program focus and allow professional networking. Chicano faculty and students in colleges and universities have increased, but much still remains to be done. Although funding for education is drastically being cut, Chicano and Latino students are at the front door of higher education, and the number of college-ready students is reaching significant levels across the nation. The official designation of Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), for schools with Chicano and Latino student enrollment in excess of 25 percent, has become a badge of honor among colleges and universities.

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Rick Vanderpool

The Texas Hamburger

9781609490850

$23.99

Texans are passionate about this signature sandwich, and photographer/writer Rick Vanderpool has become, in his own right, the Hambassador of Texas. In 2006, Rick undertook a quest to find and photograph the best Texas burgers, traveling over eleven thousand miles and visiting over seven hundred Texas burger joints. Since that time, he has continued his travels, sampling the finest burgers the Lone Star State has to offer. He has also picked up some fellow enthusiasts willing to share their own tasty tales along the way. From Fletcher Davis's 1885 Athens creation (recipe included) and the Cheeseburger Capital of Texas in Friona to Whataburger #2 in Corpus Christi and Herd's in Jacksboro, join Rick and his Hamburger Helpers on their journey celebrating the history of the original Texas hamburger.

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Tom Kayser

The Texas League Baseball Almanac

9781626190658

$19.99

Since forming in 1888, the Texas League has produced some of the most beloved American baseball players and seen more than its fair share of colorful events. In 1931, Houston pitcher Dizzy Dean pitched and won both ends of a double-header in Fort Worth, throwing a three-hit shutout in the second game. In 1906, center fielder Tris Speaker pitched for Cleburne to beat Temple 10-3. In 1998, Arkansas' Tyrone Horne hit for the homer cycle in San Antonio, finishing to a standing ovation. The Texas League Baseball Almanac delivers day by day the record-breaking events, personal triumphs and memorable games that helped to shape baseball in the region. Join authors David King and Tom Kayser on a nine-inning trip down one of minor-league baseball's most historic institutions, both in season and off. .

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JENNIFER COLEMAN

The Texas Nutcracker

9781455623310

$16.99

In this Texas-themed retelling of the classic Nutcracker story, historical details blend with fiction and magic warps reality at Fort Davis. It’s December 24, 1883 and Colonel Grierson has brought Centennia a nutcracker who looks just like a Texas soldier! When the clock strikes midnight the goose feather tree grows as she and the broken nutcracker are transported to a magical realm, where the Rattlesnake King attacks and the Bluebonnet Fairy invites her to a fabulous celebration. Dancing denizens of the Land of the Wildflowers entertain them before the nutcracker soldier tucks her under a cozy quilt. An author’s note gives a bit of historical context to this charming version of a familiar holiday tale.

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Alyssa Banta

The Texas Ranch Sisterhood

9781625858481

$29.99

Most people may think of ranchers and cowboys as men. But although they are under-chronicled, ranch women work from dark to dark, keeping step with hired hands, brothers, fathers and husbands. They blaze trails through unforgiving scrub. They cook supper and feed bulls. At any given time, they wear the hats—and the gloves—of geologist, veterinarian, lawyer and mechanic. They are fierce and feminine and powerful. Photojournalist and writer Alyssa Banta spent over a year following more than a dozen Texas women through their grueling daily routines, from the messy confines of the working chute to the sprawling reaches of the back pasture. The result of this unprecedented access is an intimate portrait of the challenges and achievements of the ranch women of the Lone Star State, along with the land and livestock that sustain them.

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Chuck Parsons

The Texas Rangers

9780738579825

$24.99

The Texas Rangers. The words evoke exciting images of daring, courage, high adventure. The Rangers began as a handful of men protecting their homes from savage raiding parties; now in their third century of existence, they are a highly sophisticated crime-fighting organization. Yet at times even today the Texas Ranger mounts his horse to track fugitives through dense chaparral, depending on his wits more than technology. The iconic image of the Texas Ranger is of a man who is tall, unflinching, and dedicated to doing a difficult job no matter what the odds. The Rangers of the 21st century are different sizes, colors, and genders, but remain as vital and real today as when they were created in the horseback days of 1823, when what is today Texas was part of Mexico, a wild and untamed land.

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David Davis

The Twelve Days of Christmas--in Texas, That Is

9781589809246

$19.99

Told with a Texas twang, this tale features a dozen icons of the Lone Star state. Clever rhymes count down the days of Christmas, revealing such surprise gifts as silver spurs, oil wells, and armadillos. Festive illustrations fill the pages of this western romp.

Cover image for The Twelve Days of Christmas--in Texas, That Is, isbn: 9781589809246

Mark Lardas

The Vanished Texas Coast

9781467149853

$21.99

People may associate Texas with cattle drives and oil derricks, but the sea has shaped the state’s history as dramatically as it has delineated its coastline. Some of that history has vanished into the Gulf, whether it is an abandoned port town or a gale-tossed treasure fleet. Revisit the shipwreck that put Texas on the map. Add La Salle’s lost colony, the Texas Navy’s forgotten steamship and Galveston’s overlooked 1915 hurricane to the navigational charts. From the submarines of Seawolf Park to the concrete tanker beached off Pelican Island, author Mark Lardas scours the coast to salvage the secrets of its sunken heritage.

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Kate Boehm Jerome

The Wise Animal Handbook Texas

9780738528458

$16.99

Read-aloud time is about to get a lot more fun! The Texas Wise Animal Handbook offers laugh-out-loud animal kingdom advice for kids of every age! Engaging animal photos entertain while charming read-aloud rhymes help jump-start conversations about practical life solutions. The Read Together/Do Together™ experience continues with pull out coloring pages in the back of the book featuring fun facts about special Lone Star State animals including the monarch butterfly and longhorn. Enjoy the opportunity to share your own practical wisdom with your favorite little one as you read-aloud… and laugh-aloud….again and again.

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Lora-Marie Bernard

The Yellow Rose of Texas

9781467142571

$23.99

The legend of the Yellow Rose of Texas holds an indisputable place in Lone Star culture, tethered to a familiar song that has served as a Civil War marching tune, a pop chart staple and a halftime anthem. Almost two centuries of Texas mythmaking successfully muddled fact with fable in song. The true story of Emily D. West remains mired in dispute and unrecognizable beneath the manipulative tales that grew up around it. The complete truth may never be recovered, but author Lora-Marie Bernard seeks an honest account honoring the grit and determination that brought a free black woman from the abolitionist riots of Connecticut to the thick of a bloody Texas revolution. A Lone Star native who grew up immersed in the Yellow Rose legend, Bernard also traces other stories that legend has obscured, including the connection between Emily D. West and plans for a free black colony in Texas.

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Susan Kralovansky

There Was a Tall Texan Who Swallowed a Flea

9781455617173

$17.99

How much can a tall Texan eat?

In this humorous retelling of the classic tale, a tall Texan devours a toad, a rattlesnake, a bat, a bull, and more to get rid of the flea he accidentally ate. The Texan gets bigger and bigger as he eats more and more-all to get rid of a silly old flea! Whoo-ee!

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Debbie M. Liles

Thurber

9781467105569

$24.99

Once a busy industrial town of nearly 10,000, Thurber now boasts a residency of less than 10. For approximately 50 years, from 1886 to 1936, migrants from the United States, Mexico, Russia, Britain, and Eastern and Western Europe mined bituminous coal, manufactured bricks, and provided the labor for all of the residual businesses in an entirely company-owned town. The rich history of Thurber includes big-city investors, Texas Rangers, labor unions, railroads, sports, opera, diversity, tragedy, triumph, and the everyday lives of men, women, and children.

Cover image for Thurber, isbn: 9781467105569

Jimmy R. Martin

Tioga and Collinsville

9781467131278

$24.99

Two small towns in Texas, Tioga and Collinsville have a rich heritage and a mutual bond. Separated by only six miles, citizens of each have relatives in the other city. The silvery railroad tracks that stretch between the two towns have served as a liaison between Tioga and Collinsville—and the rest of the world—for many years. Both towns had train depots, but unfortunately, the depots went the way of the mineral baths and mineral waters of the past. Today, each town has its own municipal court, school district, post office, mayor, and city council. Although they are independent towns, they will forever be joined by their shared bloodlines and rich history.

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Kyla Bayang

Tomball

9781467161725

$24.99

In the mid-1830s, German pioneers found an area 30 miles north of Houston thriving with pure water, an abundance of timber, and rich agricultural resources.

In 1838, the Republic of Texas granted to serviceman William Hurd 320 acres. In the early 1900s, the nucleus of the landscape caught the eye of the Trinity & Brazos Railroad as a favorable stop to the Port of Houston. For 25 years, the town prospered as a major rail stop for commodities from all around the area. In May 1933, oil was struck, which catapulted the small town into one of the largest producing oil fields in the South. The oil boom created a community that has thrived on small-town culture with a melting pot of heritages. Former and current residents alike share a deep-rooted sense of community and are proud to call Tomball their “Hometown with a Heart.”

Descendants of early pioneers and Lone Star College–Tomball Community Library staff have collected community photographs to share these historic hometown images.

Cover image for Tomball, isbn: 9781467161725

Vickie Bryant

Top O' Hill Terrace

9780738585277

$24.99

If the saga of Top O' Hill Casino becoming Arlington Baptist College were written as fiction, readers would dismiss it as improbable and impossible. The story of a tearoom evolving into the gambling hot spot of North Central Texas that was then acquired by a fiery gospel preacher, who foretold its transformation into a Baptist seminary and ultimately an accredited Bible college, is stranger than fiction yet absolutely true. The rich and famous enjoyed rubbing shoulders with the mysterious and notoriously infamous, and if large amounts of money were involved, so much the better. Stir in fabulous racehorses, flashy stage and screen stars, singers, dancers, well-known bandleaders and bands, and the tale becomes enthralling.

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Chuck Lanehart

Tragedy and Triumph on the Texas Plains

9781467149037

$21.99

Out on the Texas Plains, wrangling with history resembles taking in the sunset--a stampede of splendor and shadow all at once. Roam an Ohio-sized patch of prairie and take stock of the heroic tasks and moral dilemmas facing the unforgettable characters who called West Texas home. Ben Hogan sinks a putt with the focus of the Clovis man who hunted mammoth in the same spot thousands of years before. Lubbock's largest lawsuit runs its interminable course. And a starving Roy Rogers makes a quick meal of jackrabbit on the Llano Estacado. Chuck Lanehart gathers statesmen and journalists, outlaws and entertainers, in these profiles of the Texas Plains.

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Mike Cox

Train Crash at Crush, Texas

9781467139342

$24.99

On September 15, 1896, Crush boasted the highest population in Texas. Built near Waco, the town provided the staging ground for a publicity stunt ramming two trains together at top speed. Showrunner and Katy Railroad official William Crush thought he had planned for every contingency. But when elephant-sized chunks of steam locomotive began raining down into the packed stands, the extravaganza quickly unraveled into one of the Lone Star State’s most confounding tragedies. The soon-to-be famous Scott Joplin commemorated the debacle in “The Great Crush Collision March,” and entrepreneurs like “Head-On Joe” Connolly of Iowa continued the tradition of the staged locomotive duel for decades. But the stupefying incident still slipped into the back pages of Texas lore. In the first-ever book on the subject, writer-historian Mike Cox finally tells the full story of the Crash at Crush.

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C. Herndon Williams

True Tales of the Texas Frontier

9781626190290

$23.99

For eight centuries, the Texas frontier has seen conquest, exploration, immigration, revolution and innovation, leaving to history a cast of fascinating characters and captivating tales. Its historic period began in 1519 with Spanish exploration, but there was a prehistory long before, nearly fifteen thousand years earlier, with the arrival of people to Texas. Each story pulls a new perspective from this long history by examining nearly all angles--from archaeology to ethnography, astronomy, agriculture and more. These true stories prove to be unexpected, sometimes contrarian and occasionally funny but always fascinating. Join author and historian C. Herndon Williams as he recounts his exploration of nearly a millennium of the Texas frontier.

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James Collett

True Tales, Legends & Lore of the Pecos River

9781467157339

$24.99

Make a crossing of the storied Pecos River.

The arid Pecos River Country of Texas is rich with stories, the crooked path of its alkaline waters defining the lives of any who dared venture here. Native peoples, Spanish explorers, soldiers, travelers, cattlemen, wildcatters, and just plain folks, passed by, struggled, sojourned, and perished. From the oldest book in North America to the great rock of the Jumano, their traces remain in the ruins, the records and the earth itself. Native West Texan James Collett catalogues architectural masterpieces, lonely gravestones, fanciful cowboy tales and other bits of history caught in the currents of a legendary river.

Cover image for True Tales, Legends & Lore of the Pecos River, isbn: 9781467157339

Susan Kralovansky

Twelve Cowboys Ropin'

9781455620814

$16.99

Step right in to a rootin’, tootin’, cowboy Christmas extravaganza!

Drawing on her skills as a children’s educator, librarian, and fiber artist, Susan Holt Kralovansky interprets the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas with Lone Star charm. Start with a mockingbird in an oak tree; throw in iconic armadillos, prickly pears, boots, and longhorns all illustrated in rustic fiber-art collages composed of Southwest-inspired textures of burlap, rope, and colorful cotton. Included are bonus pages of fun facts about these symbols of the great state of Texas. A wonderful book for classroom interactions or family reading, this unique presentation of a familiar rhyme will draw in young readers and keep them enthralled long after the last ’dillo scurries off to bed.

Cover image for Twelve Cowboys Ropin', isbn: 9781455620814

Robert E. Reed Jr.

Tyler

9780738548418

$24.99

Nestled in the beautiful Piney Woods of East Texas, Tyler is known as the Rose Capital of America. While the moniker is well-deserved given the local rose industry, the Rose Festival, and its claim to America's largest municipal rose garden, Tyler's history is just as colorful as any rose. From the days when it hosted the largest Confederate prisoner-of-war camp west of the Mississippi River, through the years when cotton, fruit trees, and then roses became the local cash crops, to the time when the East Texas oil field was discovered and launched a new economy, Tyler boasts a fascinating past.

Robert E. Reed Jr.

Tyler

9780738571782

$24.99

In the early 1900s, the golden age of postcards was just beginning. Millions of cards were mailed across America, and many survive today in archives and private collections. Through these snapshots of history, Tyler's evolution can be traced. While fruit and cotton production was king into the early 20th century, a floral beauty soon brought Tyler new royalty-the Rose Queen. The discovery of oil in the city's backyard supplied a security blanket during the Great Depression's uncertain days, and Tyler benefitted with commercial and population growth. This book contains more than 200 vintage postcards that chronicle Tyler's social, educational, and medical history and its place in the heart of East Texas.

Cover image for Tyler, isbn: 9780738571782

Tyler County Historical Commission

Tyler County

9780738584980

$24.99

Before six flags flew over Tyler County, Native American settlers created forest trails and left artifacts. Later, Mexican officials welcomed Alabama-Coushatta Indians and invited adventurous pioneers from southeastern states. The banks of the Neches River supported rustic homes nestled among towering pines and graceful dogwood trees. Southerners brought their culture and lifestyle, and cotton reigned as king in the early days. Timber and tourism industries soon flourished. The Wheat, Shivers, and Kirby families, among the first to put down roots in the yet unformed county, provided leadership for the prospering communities. Sawmills dotted the landscape. Longleaf pine trees provided jobs in the lumber industry for all willing workers. The Dogwood Festival and Tyler County Fair added celebrations of seasonal beauty and bounty. Transportation systems improved to sustain industrial growth and rising tourism. In the 21st century, biofuel producers continue the quest for improved uses of Tyler County's forests and enhanced quality of life for its people.

Cover image for Tyler County, isbn: 9780738584980

Jan Johnson

Unforgettable Galveston Characters

9781467140232

$23.99

From financiers of the Texas Revolution to contestants in the Pageant of Pulchritude, the shores of Galveston enticed and cultivated a host of memorable men and women. Bishops and bookies, concert pianists and cotton tycoons—all left an indelible print on their remarkable home. Magnolia Willis Sealy and the members of the Women's Health Protective Association reshaped the ravages of the Great Storm into the glories of the Oleander City. The benevolent activism of Norris Wright Cuney transformed the social landscape, while actress Charlotte Walker and painter Boyer Gonzales Sr. extended the island's cultural reach abroad. Jan Johnson keeps company with Galveston's most fascinating characters.

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Bartee Haile

Unforgettable Texans

9781467137737

$21.99

History books burst at the seams with stories about Houston, Travis, Crockett and other icons of Texas history. Yet many of the Lone Star State's fascinating figures—well known in life but forgotten in death—remain obscure by omission. This scintillating company includes a World War I spy who became a movie star, the first gringo matador, a West Texas tent showman and the husband-and-wife trick-shot act that amazed audiences for forty years. Some characters cut across the common narrative, like the admiral whose advice might have prevented the attack on Pearl Harbor, the one and only Republican congressman in the first half of the twentieth century, the Klansman Texans elected to the U.S. Senate and the businessman who wrote the longest English-language novel in complete secrecy. Popular columnist and author Bartee Haile brings to life some of the most intriguing Texans who ever slipped through the cracks of history.

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Evelyn Barker

University of Texas at Arlington

9781467132312

$24.99

In 1895, seventy-five students enrolled at Arlington College, an elementary and secondary institution located on the North Texas prairies. Over the next 120 years, the school changed into a military school, a vocational college, a two-year college in the Texas A&M System, and finally, a full-fledged university with more than 34,000 students from across the globe. Throughout its history, UT Arlington has benefitted from strong leadership and strong community commitment to education. During the low-enrollment period of the Great Depression, Dean E.E. Davis went into the cornfields of East Texas to recruit students. In World War II, art professor Howard Joyner switched from teaching fine art to teaching the art of camouflage painting. The turbulent 1960s saw students clashing over the school's rebel flag theme, the resolution of which paved the way for the university to become one of the most diverse in the nation today.

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Lori Duran

University of Texas at Austin

9781467104777

$24.99

The University of Texas (UT) opened in 1883—38 years after Texas became a state and 7 years after the Texas Constitution called for the creation of a university of the first class. UT started off with 40 acres just north of Austin and with 221 primarily rural and local students. But since its founding, it has grown extensively and acquired worldwide prominence. Now, UT has 431 acres on its main campus and over 51,000 students enrolled from all 50 states and, at least, 124 different nations. UT is recognized as a top-rated state university, providing high-quality instruction and research. The university has also acquired architecturally interesting buildings, cherished traditions, and exciting sports programs over the years.

Cover image for University of Texas at Austin, isbn: 9781467104777

Beverly Hadley

Uvalde

9780738585314

$24.99

In 1853, Reading Black founded Encina on the banks of the Leona River. With the vision of a modern-day entrepreneur, Black opened a store, established two rock quarries, and surveyed the town by 1855. In 1856, Uvalde County was organized, and the town name was changed to Uvalde. In this wild, untamed region, early settlers fought the hardships of frontier life, with frequent Indian uprisings, dangerous wildlife, and floods. In 1892, John Nance Garner moved to Uvalde. A future speaker of the house and vice president, Garner lived, worked, and raised a family in Uvalde, which he called home until his death. Uvalde was also home to other famous Texans, from the Newton Boys to former Gov. Dolph Briscoe. The memories and moments captured here are reminders of both the strength of character shown by these early settlers and their strong sense of purpose—and also to point out that the streets were not always paved.

Cover image for Uvalde, isbn: 9780738585314

Douglas Lee Braudaway

Val Verde County

9780738501284

$24.99

Along the banks of the Rio Grande lies Val Verde County, one of the largest counties in Texas and the only one named for a Civil War battle. Although Del Rio is the county seat, Langtry is more famous as the home of Judge Roy Bean, the famous (as well as
infamous) Law West of the Pecos. Among the many evocative images of the county featured in this new
book are photos of the judge's unique court/saloon. Val Verde County captures the spirit of a region and its people through historic photographs. Most of the topics included are not strictly local in nature:
Pre-Columbian art, United States westward expansion,
the creation of the state of Texas, radio and modern
telecommunications, military history and the Cuban
Missile Crisis, and the oldest continually operating
winery in Texas. From being the oldest archaeological
site in Texas to playing a role in international relations between the United States and Mexico, Val Verde County undoubtedly has a rich and varied history.

Cover image for Val Verde County, isbn: 9780738501284

Bill O'Neal

Van Alstyne

9781467130776

$24.99

Images of America: Van Alstyne relates the story of a Texas town born in an era when small-town life was deeply ingrained in America. Founded by 1873, Van Alstyne is a close-knit, patriotic, religious, hardworking, and progressive-minded community. Surrounded by prime farmland, Van Alstyne thrived as a center for cotton ginning. In addition to railroad service, a far-ranging interurban line enhanced Van Alstyne's transportation system for 40 years. The Van Alstyne Grays, a semiprofessional team that placed its stars into baseball's big leagues, represented the national pastime. The town's former opera house still stands, and so do other Victorian commercial buildings and homes—tangible reminders of a classic American town that continues to offer the amenities of a comfortable community.

Cover image for Van Alstyne, isbn: 9781467130776

Mark Lardas

Vanished Houston Landmarks

9781467142816

$23.99

Although it is sometimes called a town without a history, Houston actually possesses the kind of sprawling past that includes a frontier port, a moon landing and a supermarket that contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union. In fact, there is so much history that much has been forgotten. Visit the landmarks of that neglected heritage, from the Cotton Exchange to Astroworld. Dropping in on legendary spots like Shamrock and Gilley's Club, Mark Lardas tells the stories of a Houston that has largely disappeared from the public eye.

Cover image for Vanished Houston Landmarks, isbn: 9781467142816

Carolyn Tracy

Vegan Survival Guide to Austin

9781626198586

$19.99

In the land of barbecue, Austin has become a vegan's paradise. Vegan trailers, restaurants, tacos, ice cream and even barbecue have taken root in Austin in a big way. From queso and cupcakes to macrobiotic feasts and tempting tempeh, the Capital City has elevated cruelty-free cuisine to new heights. With this handy guide, navigate all that Austin's busy vegan scene has to offer. Discover the festivals, blogs, locally made goods and entrepreneurs who have built a community around plant-based living. Sample recipes of local vegan chefs, find the ideal vegan brunch and get hooked on Austin's endless variety of vegan mac and cheese. From Congress to Chavez, North Loop to Lady Bird Lake, authors and vegans Julie Wernersbach and Carolyn Tracy dive into the history, heart and hot spots of Austin's vegan landscape.

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Preston L. Cary

Vernon

9780738595467

$24.99

Located in the north-central part of Texas, Vernon is the county seat of Wilbarger County. Originally, the area was home to the Kiowa and Comanche Indians. The first white settlers came in April 1878. Two years later, on April 23, 1880, Vernon was settled as Eagle Flat, though that name was changed to Vernon on March 27, 1881, because the postal department said there were too many towns in Texas with the word eagle in their name. Once the Fort Worth & Denver Railway extended to Vernon, the population began to boom.